A senior United Nations official says the situation of women in Afghanistan today is an unprecedented chapter in the history of the country.
Afghanistan’s permanent representative to the UN, Nasir Ahmad Andisha, spoke with Rukhshana Media on the sidelines of a meeting in Turkey about Afghanistan.
He said women are critically important in all spheres of Afghan society and is concerned about the diminishing role they are being forced into under the Taliban.
He warned the country’s de facto authorities that it’s potentially leading Afghanistan towards greater “gender apartheid”, making sustainable development unattainable and putting raising questions about the legitimacy of the country.
Mr Andisha said the primary objective of the meeting in Turkey was to foster dialogue among the Afghan people, noting that a significant portion of its civil society groups are outside the country, while those within Afghanistan often lack a platform to be heard. He spoke of the importance of both facilitating more connections with each other and thereby strengthening their goals.
Mr Andisha stressed the need for a comprehensive understanding of human rights, particularly women’s rights, beyond mere access to education.
On the matter of gender apartheid, he said there was an urgent need to criminalize it to draw global attention, rejecting any attempt to simplify the issue as a matter of cultural difference.
He believed criminalization would demonstrate to the Taliban and the international community the gravity of the situation and the need to reject the Taliban as a viable representative government in Afghanistan.
Alia Yilmaz, one of the organizers of the meeting, which was titled “National Dialogue, Role of Civil Society and Democratic Forces in the Future of Afghanistan” said the three primary issues being discussed were the constitution, economy, and human rights.
The two-day gathering was organized by the Geneva National Center for Dialogue and Development with 90 civil and academic figures in attendance.
Ms Yilmaz did not provide a definitive answer as to whether Taliban representatives were participating.
